Each one of these (with the exception of AOL) is a meta search engine that gets its results from the top 4 plus other engines (AOL gets its results from Google).

Therefore, if you are focusing your efforts on Google, or only Google and Yahoo! there is a chance that you won't perform well in the meta search engines as they get results from all engines and combine them.

But past the meta search engines, there are other engines and directories which you may not have considered.

As I scan the top 50 results supplied by Hitwise I see engines and directories which aren't supported by other engines. Sites such as Lycos, Whitepages.com, About, and some little known ones like searchco.com and mamma.com.

There are also great directories aside from the DMOZ (which does fall in the top 50). Directories such as Business.com can generate significant leads. In fact I know of a web design company which states that more than 50% of its sales result as a lead from their business.com directory listing.

And if you were wondering if a Yahoo! directory listing is worth the $300 annual investment, consider that this directory is #14 in terms of search traffic according to Hitwise.

And if you are an e-commerce site than you have even more options: Shopping sites such as Froogle and Yahoo! shopping can be a great source of online sales. Even setting yourself up an Ebay store and selling through there could generate significant sales.

The biggest argument I get when I suggest using services like Froogle is that they don't generate the traffic the client would like. However they do drive some traffic and studies show that the average conversion rate from Froogle is higher than many other shopping outlets. And the best part is a Froogle feed is free. All it takes is your time to set up and maintain the feed.

Outside of regular search and product search there are other ways to promote your site as well.

Blogs are growing in popularity and are becoming a more widely accepted way of brand promotion. They can be used to not only promote your site and product but also bring news of your industry to your blog readers. Plus, they can be used to generate repeat visitors to the site which ultimately reinforces your brand.

So if you want to run a truly successful online promotion be sure to explore all your options. While the big three (or four) plus paid advertising may be the easiest way to drive traffic to your site, it is important to diversify and capture as many people as you can from other online sources.


Rob Sullivan
Head Organic Search Strategist
Enquiro Full Service Search Engine Marketing

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